CD Reviews

R.I.P Smokin' Suckaz wit Logic

PacinoXTC | Long Beach, CA | 06/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Before there was Limp Bizkit, (hed)pe, Saliva, or P.O.D there once existed a band that wanted to bring real hip-hop with real lyrics to people who were willing to listen. This bands name was Smokin' Suckaz wit Logic. These 5 cats from New York who were led by Vocalist G Suave, wanted to bring hip hop to a live audience with live instruments. Through their formation in 1990 and their breakup later in 1994 this type of fusion and state of mind was unheard of. Nobody with the exception of The Roots had this sort of mentally at the time, yet SSL wanted to bring their dream to life. So they did, they toured all over and literally conquered their hometown of New York. They opened for the likes of Ziggy Marley and KRS-One, two obvious influences for the group. The groups sound was not just limited to Hip Hop and turntables , rather they had a Molotov of alternative, funk, reggae, jazz, and metal. The groups success eventually led them to get signed with Epic Records along side whith Korn who at the same time, were trying to make a name for themselves. They even appeared together on the Street Fighter The Animated Movie Japanamation were SSL contributed "Cuz I'm Like Dat" and Korn contributed "Blind". This marked the stage for SSL to release their full length album "Playin Foolz" and with their uncanny ability they seemed to have taken the record industry by storm. However this success was short lived. After a couple of tour dates SSL had many internal conflicts with the groups creative and personal processes. In addition, the groups sudden rise to fame got the best of them. So like many groups ahead of their time, they split. With that in mind SSL's "Playin Foolz" is certainly a lost gem in the rap-rock genre since it was before many talent less and clumsy bands were trying to jump on the band wagon of Limp Bizkit success. Though Epic had made this album out of print, I strongly suggest that you check out SSL album through amazon used vendors. I did and it was certainly worth the price. With the days of SSL long gone, G Suave has since turned into Spiritual Rap and rechristined himself as Rodan Tha Thinka. His new group True 2 Life is certainly not SSL but still worth checking out."